Time-burning railway signal-fusee.



Commerce Commission legally binding and effect ve. In accordance E STATES PATENTOF po s-s1 'Ross, or NEw'roNvILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIG'VINOR To CENTRAL RAIL WAY SIGNAL COMPANY, 01 PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVAQ'IIA,ALCORPOBLATIQNOF NEW JEfiSEY.

No Drawing.

'10, all 'u /lum it in (13 comic/1L: -Be it known that,l,-Loc1s S. Ross,'a citizen of the UnitedStatcs,-aml a resident, oi; i\ c\\ton\'illc, in the county of Mitldlcscx and State of iHaSs K-huscttS, have invented an lin u-orcincnt in,Time-Burnmg Railway Signal-l*u ;ecs, of which the following Ciegrriptionis a. specification. V "this invention relates to improvements in time burning rail\\"a signal fusces, the

- primary object thereof being to produce a fuscc for such purpose that will not spontancously ignitcauulcr conditions to which it is ncccssarilv subjected, and which will not be extinguished when thrown from .a moving train tar-otherwise subjected to sercre shock, and which insures continuity oi" the flameattcrnlightiu :ln most compositions for railway signal fusce's produced prior to my invention, there have been certain recognized char acteristics of 'thciingredients contained in the fuse-es that render the'latter extremely susceptible to-spontaneous ig'nitioin particularly in the presence of heat or moisture.

The railways of :the United States for a-nunibcr of years past hare maintained a bureau for the safe'transportatimi.of explosives and other dangerous articles. This bureau c111 )loys chemists -to questionsrelating to the manufacture of explosivcsf'aml other dangerous articles, and

-fi om time 'to time makes regulations and issuesspecifications prescribing the inherent characteristics of time burning railway signalfusees. These regulations mu t be passed upon and approved by the Interstate to render them villi/i116- requirements of the: said bureau,

railway'signalfusres comprise a paper tube sition is packed, eariyingatbne end aspilic breakage.

adapted to penetrate the railway-ties orbed investigate Ra ilw'ay signal fusees ants-BURNI G RAILWAY SICN'AL-FUSEE.

Specification of Letters Patent; Patented Apr, 28', 1914, pplication filed June 27. 191;. "se ial "no. mean therefore made of hcavv 1 tough fiber, as

stated, an i thc railroads require that iths tinishctl' fU SLL must stand a specified, rcla'-' t-irely heavy weight at its center when supported at its ends. One of thetcsts of the said b are! u is that the. fuse-e after burning a number-of; seconds in air must burn a specified time when completely submerged in water. It is further required'bythesaid bureau that the fusec must; burn. a prede- 'tcrinined specitied-lcngth'of time. It must burn with: brilliant-y. and force of flame and it must burniuuler either'fa't 'orable or un farorable "\Veatherconditions. h In other w.ords,=the; railway signatfusee must burn in strongwiiids (ll'uSilOl'llhS or even in. pools of water'orrsnmvbanlis. v, j a By reason of the iieccssity ofburuing the tube in uniformity with the burning, of' the composition and also ot-thenecessity that the composition burn with force and brilliaucy. all .successful compositions for railway ignal 'fusees heretofore employed have contained sul fur and potassium chlorate as fundamental i1igredient-s,'\\'itl1 the single exception that a perchlorate,"preferably per chlorate of potassium, has been substituted for the chlorate in .a composition containing sulfur. 1.

For many years it; hasbeen known that time burning --railway sigualfuseefs containing sulfur and potassium chlorate as heretofore combined were subject to spontaneous ignition and combustion due to climatic conditions of heat. and nioistin'e,'because of the presence of said. ingredients in the composition, and attempts have. been made for many years by railway chemists and others to overcome. this serious defect. Suclrspontancous ignition has beenat-tributed to the product-ion by sulfur in thevpresonceof heatand.

moisture ot' sulfurous au-d sulfuric acids,

which lItllIOJIJI'CSG-HCG of potassium chlorate. generate chlorln decompose the latter ant, peroxirl. The formation of sulfuric acid from sulfur requires the presence of oxygen, which is readily obtained in the breaking up of the potassium.chlorate, whereby hcat is generated, accelerating and helping to c ntinue the reaction until a condition is reac ed that, produces spontaneous combustion..

The recalled chlorate uima bug:

way signal fusee is composed of chlorate, sulfur, carbohydrate and metallic nitrate in suitable proportions. In order to overcome the tendency tospontaneous ignition characteristic of the chlorate fusee, a so-called perchlorate fusee has been made by substituting perchlorate of potassium for the chlorate of potassium.

A fnsee made of mixtures containing a perchlorate, such as perchlorate of potassium, is recognized to be harder to ignite and more easily extinguished when thrown from a moving train than a fusce of the socalled chlorate type. The so-called perchlorate fusce, in spite of this objection, is used because of its substantial freedom from spontaneous ignition.

Because of the fact that a perchlorate fusce is substantially free from danger-of spontaneous ignition, I have conducted a series of experiments in order to produce it possible a perchlorate fusee that will not be readily extinguished by sudden shock and the. [lame of which will burn with c'ontinuit'y. I have as the result of said experiments discovered that if in addition to a suitable quantity of potassiunror any other suitable perchlorate such, for example, as barium, sodium or amntfonium perchlorate, I employ a small proportion of a suitable chlorate, such, for example, as chlorate of potassium, of barium, of sodium, of ammonium or any other suitable chlorate, I not only produce a time burning railway signal fusee which is not liable to spontaneous ign'ition, but I obtain a. fusee, the temperature of ignition'of which is maintained at the dcsired high point of 250 C. or higher. ln addition, I increase the intlammability of the fusee compound and increase the tenacity and force of the flame of the fusee composition. This fusee is not readily ext-inguished under adverse conditions. Moreover the. stability of the perchlorate (by reason of the employment of which the socalled perchlorate fusee is readily extinguished when thrown from a train or upon receiving a sudden shock) is moditied by the hlorate, so that the modified fusee is not easily extinguished by sudden shock or when thrown from a train. Q

in my tests and experiments to eliminate the known objections of the perchlorate 'ln ec and to perfect such fusee, I-have asrertaintal that the employment of a carbohydrate in a perchlorate 'l -usee is gravely and peculiarly objectionable. That is to say, I hare aseertaimal that although a carbohy drate may bc'employed satisfactorily in a; so-called clllm'utc fusec, its presence in a perchlorat fnsee is objectionable owing to. 1, '1 ombined presence of carbohydrate and pen-.hlm-ate. A. serious objection to the socalled perchlorate fusce is due to the incrcased oxill izing power of perchlorate which differs from chlorate only in that it contains an added atom of oxygen.' This'objection is a particularly serious one in the use of fusees of combined colors, for the tendency to ineandescence and excessive brilliancy causes thered, yellow and green fusee flames to-lose their characteristic colors and gradually to merge nearer a whiter light. I have diseovered in the course of long experimentation that this objection is very materially overcome bythe elimination of carbohydrate and by. the employment of hydrocarbon or carbon, or both, or in other words, by the employment of carbonaceous material that is devoid of oxygen. The overcoming of the saidobjeetion I attribute largely to the fact that the carbohydrate contains" oxygen, which isnot presentin the hydrocarboncr in the carbon. 7 The added oxygen present in the perchlorate is to a very considerable'extent compensated for by'the absencether e' o f in the hydrocarbon and carbon, even though the amount of hydrocarbon or carbon, or both, is less than that of the perchlorate. A

further objection to the sO-called perchlorate fusee is that it burns too quickly; that is, with a'deereased burning interval after a short period following manufacturing; As a resu t of my said experiments, I attribute this defect in part at least to the added oxy-' gen present in the perchlorate. The absence of oxygen in the hydrocarbon and in the carbon compensates therefor, and hence there is less tendency of my fusee to burn for a shorter period than the minimum'time limit. -The so-ealled perchlorate fusee is also ob-.

jectionable in'that it requires a temperature of subshmtially 310 Cf'to ignite, thisbeing considerably higher than the 250 C. required by the bureau for the safe transportation of explosives. I have discovered that by eliminating carbohydrate and b employing hydrocarbon or carbon, or boti, substantially as herein set forth, I am enabled to make a fuscc containing perchlorate, which fnsce is somewhat more readily inflammable than the perchlorate-carbohydrate fnsceQ Not only does the carbohydrate heretofore employed in the manufacture of perchlorate fusees leave an objectionable residue and also prevent the proper burning of the perchlorate .l'nsec, but the ca rbohydratc has been objected to by engineers of tests and clicm ists upon the ground that certain forms thereof, suchas -.s'a\vdnst, constitutes an adulterant, the presence whereof in tl fuseie compositimr is readilyvslnm'n by sulxec'ting the-coniposition to the action o[ :ga. olcne.

Moreover,'thc addition of the carbohydrate in the form of sawdust, starch, tlonr, etc., not. only has the objections heretofore pointed out, but such addition makes the inset: more bulky and hence ot increased length for a predetermined burning time, thus rendering it more liable to breakage when it is thrown from a train in use.

carbon or of a carbon, or of both. In'malo ing such elimination and in employing hydrocarbon or carbon, or both, to the exclusion of a carbohydrate, .I have been compolled to make many tests under commercial conditions before obtaining a perchlorate fusee wherein such carbonaceous material is present in the roper proportions with respcct to the ot er ingredient-s, namely, the

perchlorate, the sulfur and the metallic salt or metallic nitrate. I have, however, secured satisfactory results Withthe elimination of the carbohydrate and by the employment of aliydrocarbon or'of a carbon or both; that is, of a carbonaceous material devoid V of oxygen. Moreover, I have found that a per i factured usually contain from five or six to bohydrate,

chlorate fusee containing such carbonaceous material devoid of oxygen is not so readily eittinguisbed as is a perchlorate fusee con}:

tfiining carbohydrate, and that it is not so hard to ignite as is a perchloratefusee con-' taining carbohydrate. In other words, I have not only, in the elimination of the careliminated certain objections which my experiments have convinced me were due to the carbohydrate, but I have eliminated certain objections heretofore supposed to be inherently and necessarily characteristic of a. perchlorate fusee, and due solely to the presence of the perchlorate; namely, the relative ease with which vit is extinguished when thrown from a moving train, the relative difficulty of igniting the same, the tendency. of the flames toward incandescence, and the high temperature required for ignition. v I have furthermore discovered that by using hydrocarbon or carbon, or both, the perchlorate tusee when properly made will not only not be so easilv extinguis'hcd when thrown and will not be so hard to ignite, but it will burn with the produc tion of proper colors. I Perchlorate I'usees as heretofore manutwenty percent. of potassium or other perchlorate eombined w th which are nitrate,

sulfur and carbohydrate with charcoal and antimony if desired, in substantially the fol rate fusee usuitablc mixture of perchlorate (preferably perchlorate of potassium, though I may employ any suitable perchlorate, such for example, barium, sodium or ammonium perchlorate) sulfur, hydrocarbon, or any-suitable carbonaceous material "devoid of oxygen, and a metallic salt such as a metallic nitrate or ogud to which, 11 desired, '1 may add charcoal and antimony.

Thepcrchhn'ateof potassium is used to furnish the principal supply of ()Xl'gtlll, the

sulfur mainly to increase combustion, the hydrocarbon and the carbonaceous material to furnish carbon and hydrogen, to aid combustion and to smooth and deepen the ,lhunc, and the metallic salt, preferably that of strontium, barium or sodium, to constitute the base or color ingredients.

While the pro ortions of these ingredients may be varied, t icy may be those previously stated with the admixture of a suitable quantit of chlorate of potassium, of barium, of so ium, bf ammonium orany other suitable chlorate in a small quantity, preferably not exceeding five per cent. of the entire mixture, The carbonaceous material prefer- "a'blyemployed by me consists of red gum (the powdered bark of the red guin Eucalyptus rostmta), charcoal and grease,

such us "parafiin and naphthalene in suitablefproportions. It will be understood that I may employ one or more hydrocarbons or Parts by Per- 7 wczght. ccntagc Metallic nitrate 144 I 70. :1 Sulfur 2O 9. i5 tRrbon-nrofcruhly charcoal Z; 1 li drocurbon prcfcrubly naphthalenc or paraflin III 5. Potassium poi-chloral 1U 11-! .3 19

68. 96 9. 85 e 0. 73 Hydrocarbou-n lene or parafliu' 11; 5. 66 Potassium pcrrholate 25$ 12. 56 Potassium chlorate 4&- 2. 21

Metallic nitrate -I 154 74.75 Sulfur m "w 222 11. 00 Carbon s 4} 2. 1O Hydrocarbon 4 125 5. 94 Potassium port. or t. J 3 7 Potassium chlorate c 32 1. 80

I have secured excellent results by employing substantially (38 to 7617 metallic nitrate; substantially 9to 12% sulfur; substantially 6 to 8% carbonaceous material; substantially a; to 13% potassium perchlorate and substantially 1% to 371,57 potassium chlorate.

sis

As previously stated, the proportion or quantity of chlorate employed is a small one and for best results should not exceed perchlorate fusce is greatly lessened, and in many cases is wholly or substantially wholly overcome.

Experiments carried out by me and extending overa period of a number of months have shown-that a fusce constructed as herein disclosed will successful-lyfmeetthe high temperature of ignition testpreseribedbythe bureau for the safe transportation of explosives. Moreover such fusce is found to be immune from spontaneous ignition, though heretofore it had been supposed that a time burning railway signal fusce containing any material proportion of chlorate of potassium or other chlorate was liable to spontaneous ignition. In other words, it had been heretofore supposed that any fusce containing more than a trace of chlorate was liable to spontaneous ignition when subjected to moisture and an elevated temperature. After an extended series of experiments, I have, however, as'above set forth, demonstrated that a time burning railwaly signal l'usec may containa relatively sma proportion of chlorate, preferably about two, two and a half or three or cent. of a suitable chlorate, and is not'liablc to spontaucous'ignitiou, provided it contains a suitable proportion of a perchlorate, such, for exam )lc, as one of the perchloratcs previously referred to by me'. It will be observed that in the several formulze above set forth, the uantity or proportion of perchlorate cxcee s that of chlorate, and with such relative proportions I have obtained the best results.

'.lhe time burning,railway signal 'fusce compound embodying my invention contains as csscidial-ingredients a perchlorate and a chlorate (any suitable perchlorate and any suitable chlorate being used) together with sulfur. lo this composition I add one or more ol the other ingredients specified by me, and for the best results I add metallic nitrate and some. suitable carbonaceous matcrial.

I employ the (crux carbonaceous material to include lrydrm'arbmis, carbons or other suitable carbonwoutaiuiug material devoid of oxygen. 7

llaviug thus described one embodiment of my invention I desire it to be umlerstmxl that although specific terms are employed, they are used in a'generic and descriptive sense and not for purposes of limitation, the

scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.

Claims:

1. A time burning railway signal fusce comprising a metallic nitrate, carbonaceous material, devoid of oxygen, sulfur, perchlorate,

ing substantially five per cent. of the entire composition, thereby producing a time burning railway signal fusce compound burning with brilhancy, tenacity and force of flame and not liable to spontaneous ignition or combustion.

2A time burning railwayisignal fusce including sulfur, perchlorate, carbonaceous material devoid of oxygen and a small quan tity of chlorate not exceeding substantially five per cent. of the entire composition,

thereby producing a time burning, railway signal fusee compound burning with brilliancy, tenacity and force of flame and not liable to spontaneous ignition or combustlon. v I

3. A time burning railway signal fusce comprising'a metallic nitrate, carbonaceous material devoid of oxygen, sulfur, perchlorate of potassium, and a small quantity of chlorate of potassium not exceeding substantially five per cent. of the entire composition, thereby producing a time burning, railway signal 'fuseecompound burning with brilliancy, tenacity and force of flame and not liable to spontaneous ignition or combustion.

4. A time burning railway signal fusce comprising a metallic nitrate, carbonaceous material devoid of oxygen, sulfur, perchlorate, and a quantity of chlorate less than the said perchlorate, thereby producing a time burning, railway signal fusce compound burning with brilliancy, tenacity and force of flame and not liable to ignition or combustion.

, .5. A time burning railway signal fusce. comprising a metallic nitrate, sulfur, hy-

d rocarbou, carbon, perchlorate of potassium,

and a small quantity of chlorate of potasslum not exceedingsubstantially five. per

cent. of the entire composition, thereby pro;- dueing a time burning, railway compound burning with brilliancy, tenacity and force of flame and not liable to spontancous ignition or combustion.

6. A time burning railway signal fusce comprising about seventy per .cent. metallic nitrate, about ten per cent. sulfur, about seven per cent. carbonaceous material devoid of oxygin and also containing perchlorate and chlorate, the quantity of chlorate being less than the quantity of perchlorate, thereby producing a time burning, railway signal fusce-compound burning with briland a small quantity of chlorate not exceed-- spontaneous- 1 10 signal fusce w liancy, tenacity and force of tlame and not liable to spontaneous ignition or combustion.

7. A time burning railway signal fusee comprising about seventy per cent. metallic nitrato about teirper cent. sulfur, about seven per cent. carbonaceous material devoid of oxygen. about ten per cent. perchlorate and about two per cent. chlorate, thereby producing a time burning, railway signal fusoe compound burning with brillianey, tenacity and forte of flame and not liable to spontaneous ignition or combustion.

8. A time burning railway signal fusce comprising about, seventy per cent. metallic nitrate, about ten per cent. sulfur. about seven Dt! cent. carbonaceous material de void of oxygen. about ten per cent perchlorate of potassium and about two per cent. chlorate of potassium, thereby producinga time burning railway signal fusee com pound burning with brilliancy, tenacity and force of flame and not liable to spontaneous ignition or combustion.

9. A time burning railway signal fusee comprising a metallic nitrate, carbonaceous material devoid of oxygen, sulfur, perchlorate, and a small quantity of chlorate insufl ficient. when combined with the perchlorate in the specified composition to render the fuses liable to spontaneous ignition, thereby producing a time burning, railway signal fusee compound burning with brilliancy, tenacity and force of flame, and not liable to spontaneous iglntion or combustion.

10. A time burning railway signal fusee comprising substantially sixty-eight to seventysix per cent. metallic nitrate,--Si1bstantially nine to twelve per cent. sulfur, substantialh six to eight per cent. carbonaceous material devoid of oxygen, substantiallv our to thirteen per cent. potassium perchlorate. and substantially one and a, halt to three and a half per cent. potassium chlorate. thereby producing a time burning. railway signal fuses compound burning with ln-itliancy, tenacity and force of flame and not liable to s ontaneous ignition,or

ombustion.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, LOUlS S. ROSS.

"5 t nesses lnvrxe U. TOWNSEND, Evnssrr EMMY. 

